North Carolina’s new voting law, passed within a month of the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision to gut the Voting Rights Act, is among the most restrictive in the nation, and disproportionately affects minorities, young people and the elderly. In THE NEW FIGHT FOR VOTING RIGHTS, filmmaker Rachel Lears questions why states are making it harder to vote, and what the consequences are for our democracy.

Rachel’s Take
“It’s really important to me for the same reason that I think it should matter to everybody, which is that there is really no issue that you could be concerned about in this country that isn’t somehow affected directly or indirectly by the right to vote. The right to vote is what allows us to elect representatives that are going to represent our interests and it’s just an absolutely fundamental aspect of our democracy. That’s why I believe that we should be making it easier for people to vote rather than more difficult and I think that the struggles that are going on in North Carolina and so many other states right now to expand access to the vote is really something fundamental that is going to be shaping politics over the course of the 2016 election and beyond.” – Rachel Lears

Read More About Voter ID Laws

An Up-to-date Look at Voter ID Laws Across the States
ProPublica – Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Voter ID Laws, March 2016

Voting Rights from 1865 to Today
The New York Times – A Dream Undone, July 2015

How Voting Rights Laws Impact Women
The Huffington Post – Promote the Vote, Protect the Vote, January 2015

Why the Government Should Require Voter IDs and Assist Those in Need of One
Forbes – Voter ID Would Protect Voters’ Rights, Not Inhibit Them, September 2014

Democrats and Republicans Support Restoration of Ex-Felon Voting Rights
Reuters – U.S. States Giving More Ex-Felons Voting Rights Back, March 2016

North Carolina Voting Laws Highlight Political Divide
The New York Times – North Carolina Exemplifies National Battle Over Voting Laws, March 2016

Watch More About Voter ID Laws

Access to Voting has Become Less and Less Equal
HBO – “John Oliver: Voting”, February 2016

Journalist Ari Berman Discusses Voting Rights and Restrictions
NPR – “Block the Vote”, August 2015

A Closer Look at Voter ID Laws Across America
Late Night: Seth Meyers – “Voter ID Laws”, March 2016

About Rachel Lears
Rachel’s most recent feature documentary, The Hand That Feeds, won awards and recognition at Full Frame, DOC NYC, AFI Docs, Chicago Latino, and numerous other festivals on the 2014-15 circuit. It was supported by Sundance Documentary Film Program, the Ford Foundation, Latino Public Broadcasting, Chicken & Egg Pictures, New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), Bertha BRITDOC Connect Fund, and the Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute, and was featured at Good Pitch NY, Sundance Creative Producing Lab & Summit, and IFP’s Spotlight on Documentaries. Rachel’s first film Birds of Passage (2010) was supported by Fulbright and the National Film Institute of Uruguay (ICAU), had two community screening tours of Uruguay sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Culture, and was broadcast nationally throughout Latin America. Her ongoing video art collaborations with artist Saya Woolfalk have screened at numerous galleries and museums worldwide since 2008. Rachel was a 2013 Sundance Creative Producing Fellow, is bilingual in Spanish, and holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology and a graduate certificate in Culture and Media from NYU.

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Brennan Center for Justice
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North Carolina NAACP
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Rock the Vote
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Voto Latino
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Talk Poverty
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